However, with so many options available, you may be confused as to which one is right for you and your circle of friends. So, here are the best free voice chat apps for gaming, along with their pros and cons.
Discord is a free app that runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and as a web app (which sadly isn't as feature-rich as the desktop versions). If you've ever used Slack or IRC, then you'll feel right at home on Discord. In addition to voice chat, Discord supports text chat and video chat (for up to 10 people).
Discord is a free Voice Text Chat app for PC Gamers
Download File: https://tweeat.com/2vELcD
Anyone can create a Discord server for free. Users can join up to 100 different servers, and each server is essentially its own independent community. Servers can have text channels and voice channels, and the server owner can tweak pretty much everything about it. Discord hosts the servers itself, and here's how to find the best Discord servers to match your interests.
You and your friends can get set up and running within minutes. Servers are private and people can only join them through invite links (a "public" server is one with a permanent public invite link that anyone can use). Discord has many features beyond just the voice chat client, and is well worth checking out.
Furthermore, Discord servers are hosted in the following locations: U.S. East, U.S. Central, U.S. West, U.S. South, Europe, Russia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Japan, South Africa, and Australia. If you're outside those regions, then latency may cause delays in your voice chat.
Discord may actually be a little overkill if you only want voice chat. It's best to use if you're already participating in a few other Discord servers, in which case you'll already be running the Discord app and have nothing to lose.
Mumble is a free and open-source app that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. On mobile, you can use a third-party app: Plumble for Android and Mumblefy for iOS. It's mainly used for voice chat, though it also supports primitive text chat.
Despite being one of the most popular gaming platforms on the planet, Steam had no integrated voice chat option until 2018. Which given the astronomical amounts of money spent on the platform, the 100 million users, and the astounding range of games available, is somewhat shocking.
If you're already playing a game on Steam, you don't have to mess around with a third-party voice chat app. Everyone you play with is using the same game launcher, playing the same game, so all of your friends can chat using the same app.
If you rely on Steam Voice Chat to communicate with specific friends or gamers, you won't be able to reach them if the Steam network goes down. In that, some users prefer to use an alternative voice chat client because it stops one company from consolidating the market (even further).
In terms of chatting to other people or different gamers, Steam Voice Chat is limiting. You're most likely to chat with your friends on Steam Voice Chat. Whereas, with other options such as Discord, you can join different servers and chat with different people.
Tox is slightly different from the other voice chat options on this list. Unlike the alternatives, Tox has a strong focus on user privacy, using end-to-end encryption to protect your data. It also uses a peer-to-peer connection model to boost your privacy further while chatting and playing games.
The Tox protocol offers a secure voice chat option for gamers. Privacy is important, and many voice chat options overlook this important issue. Furthermore, as the Tox source code is open source, you can make sure nothing untoward is taking place with your data.
The options above are some of the best voice chat apps for gaming. Almost every gamer develops a preference for one of them. If you don't like any of them for whatever reason, there are two other voice chat solutions you can use: Google Hangouts and Skype. But be warned... they have some glaring flaws.
Google Hangouts lets you make free voice calls to other Hangouts users, plus video conferences with up to 10 total participants. It's fine for lounging around with fellow gaming friends, but isn't the best to use while actually gaming because the quality isn't optimized for it, you don't have options for push-to-talk, and there's no persistence between calls.
Skype is a better fit for gaming because you can have persistent group chats between voice chats, but the Skype software itself leaves much to be desired. It's buggy and prone to errors, plus the voice quality is generally bad and has a distinct tinniness to it.
If you're looking for more free apps for gamers, check out this list of free apps for PC gamers. Or, if you're all about squeezing more juice out of your gaming rig, here's how to optimize your PC for gaming.
Considering that multiplayer games have been so omnipresent, and online gaming has been around since the '90s, it's a bit baffling how scattershot VoIP clients can be for gamers. My colleague Joel even said in his coverage of voice chat programs for PC gamers that Skype, of all things, was the most convenient app despite how cumbersome it is.
The typical Discord server is separated into text channels, and voice chat rooms. The text rooms are very much like forums (though if you want an actual gaming forum, you should look elsewhere). The channels can be configured a number of ways, and set aside for specific purposes, such as announcements, contests, or music.
One of the features that the desktop version of Discord supports is an in-game overlay that will allow you to keep track of your Discord voice chat without having to alt-tab out of the game to do so. You map the overlay to a button combo, then press those buttons to bring Discord up while you're playing the game and make changes to the room from there.
Up until this point, there hasn't been a chat app specifically designed to be compatible with Twitch or YouTube streaming. It's something at most streamers probably didn't realize they wanted until they had it. Discord was created, according to Hammer & Chisel, specifically because other voice chat apps were lacking.
Another benefit for gamers is relatively low latency, meaning little delay in sound in voice chat, and an alleged lack of frame-rate loss. Despite its moniker, Discord is fairly bug-free at the current time of writing. If you want a voice chat client for speaking with your fellow gamers, Twitch audience, or anyone else, Discord is definitely worthy of your consideration.
How many of you gamers out there have used Discord? Has it replaced your other voice chat options, or do you still think it needs more work and features? Have any non-gamers used Discord for any reason?
Epic Games Store (EGS) is a digital video game storefront that is free to download for Microsoft Windows and macOS. EGS does not offer a mobile app experience. This past year EGS has transformed itself from a marketplace into a social space for gamers. EGS users can connect with friends over this gaming messaging app during live, multi-platform gameplay, have the option to toggle in-game chat windows on and off, and effortlessly jump into parties with voice and text-based chat.
Band is primarily a group chat tool that is free for gamers but also acts as a social network of sorts. Users can create chat groups, invite their friends, and leverage the integrated calendar to plan game nights. Band also hosts a robust catalog of advanced features, like file sharing, live streaming, in-chat polls, special privacy settings for younger users, custom profiles, and more for gamers to enjoy.
The two main functions of Steam Chat are text and voice chat between individuals and groups. Text-based messages can be enriched with higher fidelity links, GIFs, videos, Steam emojis, and notifications customized based on specific channels or users. Gamers can message each other individually or create group chats with multiple text channels to organize conversations about different topics. These group exchanges can also be made over voice chat so gamers can remain in the moment of gameplay while staying connected.
On-the-go gamers will enjoy the TS3 mobile apps for Android and iOS, while PC gamers can download the app directly onto their Windows or macOS systems. The TS3 chat app is highly customizable and offers hundreds of ready-made plugins, sound packs, icon packs, and themes for users and the option for them to create their own.
Mumble is a more security-minded online gaming voice chat app with encryption support that guarantees data protection across multiple servers. It is a free and open-source platform for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS that delivers communication with surprisingly low latency. There is a server-based version of Mumble available for $7.50/month. It emphasizes middleware and enables additional features that enhance the voice chat gaming capabilities.
Pinch is a voice chat app for gamers to talk with their closest friends while playing mobile games. It is available for free downloads on both Android and iOS app stores. Pinch works in the background while users are in gameplay so they can stay connected and communicate easily in real-time. Even when a gamer is offline, Pinch enables them to see if their friends are playing and even get notifications when specific friends are online.
The best part is that you can create multiple teams based on your game and you can also discover other teammates who speak your language. Not to mention, Run is also available on iOS so iPhone users can also join the voice chat and play games together with voice chat in the background. All in all, if you want an Android app for voice chat while gaming, Rune is a fantastic choice.ProsConsPowerful voice chat for Android with text supportAt times, the audio stuttersBeautiful UISupports all Android gamesPlatforms: Android and iOSPricing: FreeDownload (Android, iOS)7. Blizzard Voice ChatBlizzard Voice Chat is for everyone who loves playing games from Blizzard Studio like Overwatch, CoD, Diablo Immortal, Warcraft, and more. The desktop battle.net app comes with the voice chat feature and it works like a charm. You can create channels based on your game, mute other members in the channel, change the volume level, and do much more. There is also an option to join multiple voice channels, but you can only use voice chat in one of the sessions at a time. To get started with Blizzard Voice chat, you simply need to plug in your microphone and click on the headset button in the top-right corner of the chat window. Enable Transmission Mode and there you go! As I said above, it works without any fuss. The only con is that voice chat is only available on the desktop app. You can, however, text chat with its Android app. To conclude, for Blizzard gamers, this is the best voice chat service you have at your disposal.ProsConsBest voice chat service for Blizzard gamesVoice chat is not available on mobileAudio and mute controls are availableJoin multiple voice channelsPlatforms: Windows and macOSPricing: FreeDownload 2ff7e9595c
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